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The
armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, passed a small bag of cocaine to
the witness on the evening of Oct. 21, 2021, after a police
interview "to prevent law enforcement from obtaining highly
inculpatory evidence directly related to the defendant's
handling of the firearm," prosecutors said in a court filing on
Thursday.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after Gutierrez-Reed said
she mistakenly loaded a live round into a revolver actor Alec
Baldwin was rehearsing with, according to a transcript of a
police interview.
Prosecutors last week charged Gutierrez-Reed, 25, with an
additional charge of tampering with evidence over the alleged
transfer of narcotics. She already faced a charge of involuntary
manslaughter and plans to plead not guilty to both indictments,
according to her lawyer Jason Bowles.
Bowles on Friday said the new accusation lacked corroboration or
evidence.
"Like everything else with the state's case and investigation,
it's full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing," Bowles
said in a statement.
Gutierrez-Reed is the only person still facing charges for
Hutchins' death after prosecutors dismissed charges against
Baldwin and reached a plea agreement with first assistant
director Dave Halls.
In the Thursday court filing, prosecutors requested the witness’
identity be protected, saying the person feared being
blacklisted from the film industry.
(Reporting By Andrew Hay; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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